In order to provide a contextual review within the season, this review will contain spoilers from previous episodes but not the end of the finale.
In “For All Time. Always.,” Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie have done it. They have made it to the end of time and found a Citadel. In a series that has had its pacing vary in a way that creates a tone that is as mischievous as the God of Mischief himself, the final episode slows down a surprising amount, but it ensures that the big moments make an impact, especially for fans of Marvel comics.
After a surprisingly vulnerable moment by Sylvie, the two Lokis enter the Citadel and are greeted by Miss Minutes, the holographic clock from the TVA. She explains that He Who Remains is behind everything and wants to make a deal with the two Lokis, granting them everything they want, including existing within the same timeline, together. The duo turns her down and carries forward, deeper into the Citadel.
After leaving the Citadel, Miss Minutes goes back to the TVA and helps Judge Ravonna Renslayer download a file before disappearing again. Not much later, Owen Wilson’s Mobius walks in the room. He explains that it was a “piece of cake” to return from the Void, and we learn that he is working with Hunter B-15 to show all the TVA agents the truth, that they are all variants with lives before the TVA. Mobius tries to prune the Judge after she expresses blind loyalty to some proverbial plan that she doesn’t understand, clinging on to hope that the TVA and everything she’s done must have been for a justifiable reason during a conversation that has depth at a theological level. She then leaves with a TemPad in “search of free will.”
At the same time, Loki and Sylvie come across He Who Remains (played incredibly by Jonathan Majors), a quirky, seemingly all-knowing man in the throne room of the Citadel. He explains that he has been called many names, including a “ruler” and a “conqueror,” which is exciting as it has long been hypothesized that Kang the Conqueror might be the next major villain of the MCU after the fall of Thanos.
While Sylvie doesn’t trust a word He says, Loki starts to question if He might be telling the truth. Could He truly be in control of not just the TVA, but every event that has led to this moment? Could there be a version of him in every timeline that has indescribable power and drive to accomplish just about anything, creating a need for the TVA to ensure that his variants wouldn’t destroy the entire multiverse?
When we reach the end of what is possibly predetermined time, He Who Remains says he no longer knows what will happen. This season finale moves slowly, with the majority of the episode being centered around the two Lokis and He Who Remains in the throne room. However, it makes several moments feel that the season’s plot, which didn’t always seem to have a set direction, was really building to something. We see Sylvie and Loki try to figure out what their lives could look like, and Mobius shows great character development. The finale isn’t the most intense episode, but it leaves us on a cliffhanger that could lead to literally anything. It’s incredible, and with the MCU in its state of regularly releasing films and tv series, we could see ensuing events at any time in any number of releases. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Be sure to stick around for a mid credits scene.
8/10